USASTRATCOM

This blog was created for USASTRATCOM Long Lines Battalion Army personnel who served in Taiwan during the 1965-72 time frame. Specifically, those who lived and worked in and around Taipei are the target. If you worked at the Grass Mountain or Gold Mountain facilities or anywhere in downtown Taipei, we would like to hear from you. All are welcome to visit and contribute to this blog. Your comments and pictures are encouraged.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

One Little Girl's Memories of Taipei, 1967

When you think of being deployed to Taiwan, don't you usually think of a serviceman or woman? Debbie Jones was the dependent of an Air Force family and her views of Taipei are quite different than those of us who were in our late teens and twenties.

From what I have read, going to school was an exercise in self-reliance, adjusting quickly and making friends for military dependents.

Photo by Les Duffin: Courtesy of Dawgflight.com

Fortunately for us, Debbie found this picture of the Oasis Hotel where she and her family lived until their quarters in Tien Mou were ready.

Photo courtesy of Debra Jones

If this doesn't bring back memories to the many thousands who have attended a school in a foreign country, then nothing will.

This picture is from 1967 and, as you can see, TAS was welcoming a new batch of first graders. Debbie is sitting in the second row, second person from the right. Cute, isn't she?

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Taipei American School is still located in Tien Mou (Tianmu). Now it is located on Zhongshan North Road, Section 6, in the ShiLin District of Taipei.

A well-known baseball field can be easily seen from this overhead shot.

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With the campus of about 15 acres, the school is very modern and accommodates students from K-12.

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This is the entrance along Zhongshan North Road. Notice the Taiwan flag. Directly across the street is the Taipei Japanese School. In Grass Mountain is the Taipei European School.

1 comment:

The TAS was located in Shilin instead of Tien Mou in 1967.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_American_SchoolIn 1959, TAS purchased a 22 acre (89,000 m²) site in Shilin for a new campus. In March 1960, the kindergarten and lower school moved into a 36-classroom 5-wing complex on the site. The upper school remained at the Chang'an campus until 1964, when the last upper school facilities were completed.On September 2, 1989, TAS officially relocated to its present campus in Tianmu.

The TAS and the Taipei Japanese School in Tien Mou today used to be the BOT housing area of the U.S. military personnel. Please see "Tienmou Housing Area" in the following image. That is the place where Debbie lived after she moved out of the Oasis Hotel?http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WCBjBn0AdLk/Tg-nIZmcojI/AAAAAAAADfY/Ze5bG3a_Z5g/s1600/BOT+housing+areas+updated.jpg